Documents | Correspondence

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Summary of Document

This file charts the process of the establishment of an incremental local radio contract from application stage to selection stage. After selection the file details the issues the successful applicant had in funding the station and in its reception. The final letter indicates that investors had taken over the station.

The area concerned is in Essex called Tendering, which stretched from Felixstowe, over to Manningtree and back down to Clacton-on-Sea and Frinton-on-Sea. Included in the file are contract evaluation forms highlighting the pros and cons of each applicant for the contract.
The file shows the decision-making process, and other unexpected problems that arose in the process. One of the ultimately unsuccessful applicants had leased office space to a company that sold audio pornography, which was subsequently exposed in the local paper.

The group that won the bid, Tendering Radio, had a difficult start, which included losing financial backing, and eventual reorganisation. After finally going on the air as Mellow 1557 a year later, transmission problems helped lead to its eventual take over by investors in 1991.